WALES skipper Colin Charvis has lost his battle to be fit for Sunday's Six Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin.

Charvis badly dislocated the middle finger of his left hand during the 23-10 win over Scotland in the tournament opener last Saturday and has been ruled out for the key match.

He is replaced in the Wales back-row by World Cup hero Jonathan Thomas, while flanker Martyn Williams regains the captain's armband.

Wales coach Steve Hansen said: "It's disappointing to lose Colin, who has been playing good Test rugby as well as growing into a strong leader. The decision allows Colin's injury to be rectified once and for all, making him available for the rest of the tournament.

"We are very lucky that we have able replacements in Jonathan Thomas and Alix Popham from a playing point of view and Martyn Williams from a leadership perspective.

"It's now important that our designated lieutenants stand up and be counted in helping Martyn lead the side.

We are looking forward to travelling to Dublin and playing a game of rugby we can all be proud of."

Williams became the 118th player to captain Wales when he took the reins against Scotland in last season's Six Nations.

But his four-Test spell at the helm fell in the middle of a run of 10 straight defeats for his country.

And when Hansen turned to the 28-year-old to lead Wales into the World Cup in Australia last November, Williams turned down the role, citing personal reasons.

In Ireland, though, Williams could be poised to end his wait for a win as Welsh skipper.

The national side head to Dublin today brimming with confidence following their victory at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday, and welcome back fit-again North Wales hooker Robin McBryde and lock Robert Sidoli.

And Hansen added: "Ireland will offer a different test for us than

Scotland, but it is a Test that we can go into with confidence because of the fact we have some runs on the scoreboard.

"Obviously we are very happy to have Robin and Sid back. The challenge for these two is to play up to and better than the high standards that were set by Mefin and Gareth last week."

The shock of the team announcement though, was the news rampaging loose-head prop Duncan Jones had been released back to his club, the Neath-Swansea Ospreys, in favour of Llanelli Scarlets' Iestyn Thomas.

"Many people will be surprised by Duncan's omission but we can assure you it's not a form issue - it's for tactical reasons," said Hansen.

"Duncan is fully aware of this and understands completely the reasoning behind it."

Neath-Ospreys coach Lyn Jones, though, was surprised by Jones' omission from the squad and immediately put the curly-haired prop into his starting line-up for tomorrow night's match against The Dragons.

"Duncan is a dedicated loose-head and this may have counted against him," he said. "I am hugely disappointed for Duncan as he consistently performs at the highest level.

"He has a fantastic all-round game, is easily coached, and reacts quickly to any situation. Duncan is a strong character and will bounce back from this."

Meanwhile, Rhys Williams believes Wales are in for a tough time in Ireland.

The Cardiff Blues winger scored two of Wales' three tries against Scotland last weekend.

But Williams, who turns 24 on Monday, said: "We definitely won't get the freedom we got against Scotland when we go to Lansdowne Road on Sunday. We are expecting a much tighter game.

"It's going to be a hell of a task to go there and come back with a win.

"We have to step up our performance levels again because so many times we have played well and then followed it with a poor display."